In 1965, I was 17 and climbing with a bunch of guys from Prague club. I was by far the youngest of them. We did a lot of sandstone climbing at the Elbe river on the border of Czech Republic and Germany. Wonderful place, incredible climbing. We also did some soloing which today sends shivers down my back, up to Saxon grade VI, about 5.8. One day I got stuck about 45 feet up a face, between two towers. I couldn't figure out the moves. One of the older guys yelled to me to hang on and "scrambled" with a rope on the back side of the formation. Just as he started to lower the rope, I couldn't hold on any more, pushed off, and fell those 45 feet to the ground. Broken elbow, broken heel, concussion and about a year of the most intense fight with my mind followed. My first ever lead fall was a solo ground fall...And luckily, I lived to climb some more over the next 45 years...

This event happened August 6, 1956 in the Sawtooth Range of the Olympic Mountains in Washington State. My two companions, Harry Irwin (Deceased) and Dick Rosenow and I were attempting to find a peak in the short range of pinnacles which had not been climbed first by Fred Beckey and his brother in 1948. We completed the 3rd Ascent of the Rectagon and the 2nd Ascent on the Trylon and were trying a new route on the West Face of the Fin. In those days we were using three strand 7/16"nylon climbing rope. Although we had an assortment of iron pitons and steel carabineers we didn't have much use for them. The conglomerate lava rock had few cracks to offer. I was leading a pitch of 5.9 wearing Van type deck shoes. High smear climbing shoes were not invented yet and Vibram soles were just replacing nailed boots in the Northwest. Managed to come off about 30' above my belayer, but fell to the outside of a large block of stone which had partially seperated from the main cliff. Fell about 15' before the rope slammed me in to the block. We didn't wear seat harnesses in those days so I had three rounds of rope around my waist on a boline knot No injuries, but I was black and blue around my waist for two weeks after the incident. Scared me pretty good. Took another day before I would lead again or solo. I was 16 years old at the time.